A good Christmas after all
by Ms. Marauder-Cullen
Summary: Hermione hears some strange noises at Grimmauld Place and goes to investigate. She finds Sirius having an awful night alone. All she wants is to help him. She ends up giving him a good Christmas Eve and hope for a brighter future together.


Authors Note: This takes place after the war and Sirus, Remus, and Fred did NOT died!!!

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_**A good Christmas after all by Ms. Marauder-Cullen**_

It was a cold winter night at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place and there was a fierce storm raging outside of the ancient House of Black. The wind was howling like a wild animal in distress and the freezing rain had turned to snow that was now swirling madly around the house. The fire had gone out many hours previous and the grandfather clock in the entryway had struck midnight awhile ago, signaling that it was Christmas Eve.

One Sirius Black was resting fitfully in his bed on the third floor. He was tossing and turning and the blankets were tangled haphazardly around his bare legs. He had his legs drawn up to his chest with his arms clutching them tightly to him trying to make himself seem as small as possible. Sometimes he would still and then would start thrashing around again, tangling himself up even more.

This is how Hermione found him that night. She had been in her room reading while using a piece of tinsel to play with Crookshanks when she' d heard some strange noises coming from the room above her. She'd brushed it off as one of Sirius's late night trysts and gone back to her reading since the noise had stopped.

Then, probably ten minutes later, she heard the noise again and decided to go check it out even though it might cause her great deal of discomfort.

She thought to herself as she made to get up, _'You could never be too careful or nosey when, you know, you had Fred and George living under the same roof as yourself.'_

So she made her way out of bed, then put on her fuzzy purple slippers and matching robe and made her way to her door. She then headed up the stairs and walked quietly up to Sirius's door which was slightly ajar.

She didn't hear any odd noises at the moment so she carefully eased open the door and, avoiding the creaky floor boards, walked into his pitch black room. Glancing around the room after her eyes adjusted, she didn't see anything that didn't belong as far as she knew.

She carefully made her way over to the bed. After reaching it, she lit and lifted her wand and it shown down to show Sirius laying in the bed. He was curled up in the fetal position and every once in awhile he would twitch or toss onto his other side.

Hermione wasn't sure what over came her at that moment but she wanted nothing more than to crawl into the bed and pull him tightly to her and chase away all his fears. Since she couldn't do that she just reached out and gently brushed it along his stubbly cheek.

Instantly, he shot up off the bed and his hand grabbed her small wrist tightly in his large one. Before she could even make a sound to tell him it was her, he had his wand pointed at her chest, his breath coming out hard and erratic. She sat very still for a moment until her body came out of it's stunned shock, then, she looked up into his face.

It was paler at night than it usually was in the day time and it looked even haughtier in the inky darkness of his room. His dark eyes were wide and wild with a emotion in them that she couldn't quite place. Looking closer she could tell what that emotion was. He had been afraid of her. She had scared him. His pale tattooed chest was still rising and falling rapidly from his fright. A little too rapidly for her taste she observed.

Neither of them had spoken a word to the other yet and Sirius still had a tight hold on her wrist. His eyes were still wild but were slowly calming down and softening. His breathing slowly but surely coming back to normal. His gaze on her was piercing but it seemed as though he knew who she was now. She let out a soft sigh of relief.

Then, cautiously, she opened her mouth and said softly, "Sirius, are you okay?"

He let go of her wrist then and flicked his wand at the light switch before dropping it onto the bed. He then dropped his head into his hands for a moment getting his bearings before he raised it and looked at her. His eyes were staring at her intently while he said, "Hermione you're a smart girl. Do I honestly look like I'm okay to you?"

Hermione ran her eyes slowly over him and took him in watching and appraising him closely. Finally after a few long moments she said, "Honestly? No you don't. You look like someone who has been through too much and had way too much thrown at them. Would you like to tell me what's wrong or do you want me to just go back to my room and pretend that this never happened while you sit here the rest of the night and relive everything by yourself?"

Sirius's head shot up from where he had lowered it after asking his questions to stare at her. Then he said, "No, I don't want you to leave and I don't want to talk and I don't want to be alone tonight and I don't want to relive everything as you so bluntly put it."

"Then what do you want, Sirius?"

"What I want is to just forget everything that has happened. But since that isn't an option for me, what I want is just some… comfort. Just for tonight I want someone to pretend to want me for myself and not for my money or my name. I just want someone who can give that to me, if only for one night. I just want someone who cares. If only a little."

There was silence in the room after Sirius made his admission and he felt his face redden with shame at admitting this to someone else. For sounding like a bloody sap instead of the pureblood he was taught to be. He then felt Hermione move and sit down on the end of the bed and move slowly closer to him. Then she spoke.

"Sirius, I'm sorry that all this has happened to you and I'm sorry I can't take it all away. But if you want I could, as you said, stay here and be your source of comfort. I don't want, care, or need your money and I don't care what your name is. I honestly do want to help you and I honestly do care for you. More than just a little. A lot actually. So if you want I could stay with you." she finished softly and nervously.

Sirius had been watching her throughout her little speech and he'd watched as her cheeks heated up at her admissions. He knew that she had never stayed the night with a boy before, let alone a man, and he found it oddly comforting that she would offer to do this for him. So he said, "Really? You'd do that for me?"

Looking at him with her wide, deep, trusting chocolate colored eyes she said, "Yes Sirius, I want to stay with you and don't look so shocked. After my little rant that should be clear, I would do anything for you. Anything at all if I thought it would help you out."

Sirius was dumfounded. He'd never been spoken to like that before. Never. So not knowing what to do he moved over in the huge bed and patted the stop next to him.

Hermione hesitated and then slipped off her slippers and robe before crawling in next to him. Sirius then picked up his wand and flicked it at the light switch turning them off. Then they were enveloped in the darkness once again.

Sirius put his arm around her waist gently and cautiously and when she didn't pull away he relaxed his stiff posture. He was startled when he felt Hermione moving slowly closer to him, snuggling deeper into his chest and his warmth. It was pure bliss just lying here with the girl, no woman, that he'd come to admire and not do anything or have anything expected of him.

He smiled as his head came in contact with her soft curly hair and he inhaled the smell deeply, saving the scent to memory. His smile grew wider as he felt her small hands gently come up to rest on his chest and as she gently placed a kiss over his heart. He smiled again as her puffs of breath on his bare chest even out as she fell asleep. Once he was sure she was asleep and warm enough, he closed his weary eyes and let his exhausted body fall into a much needed peaceful sleep.

This was one of the only nights since he'd escaped from Azkaban that he'd had a peaceful sleep. And it was also one of the only nights he'd ever had in this house that he slept with out waking once.

This might actually turn out to be a good Christmas after all. What with Harry and Remus and the Weasley's here and now that he knew how Hermione felt, he was sure that it would be the best one he'd ever had filled with many more.

~Fin.

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Authors Note 2: Please read and review and tell me what you thought! Merry Christmas everyone! :D


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